Joshua Silveira Shares Mindset as PFL Playoff Berth Inches Closer

Joshua Silveira likes to talk with his father, Marcus Silveira, as the last thing he does before a fight for encouragement and motivation.

Silveira (10-1, 3-1 PFL) has a special relationship with his father, a mixed martial arts veteran himself who’s also the head coach and founder at American Top Team. The 2023 Professional Fighters League Regular Season started on the right foot for Silveira, who scored a first-round submission via rear-naked choke over Sam Kei. With six points already in his pocket, Silveira’s path to the playoffs seems almost a formality, yet he will have to deal with Delan Monte on June 8 at PFL 4 2023 Regular Season. As always, “Coninha” will look to his father’s guidance in his next assignment, aware that the window to secure a legacy in MMA is limited yet at reach.

“Usually, when I step inside the cage, a lot of guys like to look at each other. I do look at my opponent, but I usually turn my back to my opponent, and I start talking to my dad. It's a very adrenaline moment. I always ask him if this is it right now, this is about to go down. He looks at me, and he always tells me the same thing but in different types of ways. He tells me, ‘This is what we trained for right now. It's right now your moment. Don't hesitate to be spectacular.’ He lets me know, ’Don’t hesitate, don't hold your chance to be great right now.’ There's many times in life you have these little windows to do something great in your life. It's not all the time, life's a kind of a hard thing, but he reminds me, ‘Don't hesitate, man. Go pull the trigger,’ and it makes me feel good. Obviously, I have so many different feelings going through my mind and body, but it feels good to hear that from him.’

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:44) Submitting Kei in the first round
(01:46) Bouncing back from his first defeat
(02:35) Adopting a more aggressive fighting style
(03:33) Planning for a quick finish
(04:30) Being a rear-naked choke master
(05:24) The secret of a good rear-naked choke
(06:55) The presentation of his father’s book
(07:48) What the book is about
(08:44) What his father tells him before a fight
(10:11) Taking on Monte
(11:19) Acknowledgments
(12:43) Outro